Temporarily fixed to the land

ARE YOU A TINY HOUSE FRIENDLY COUNCIL? 

We have a policy in place, easy to find on our website, that clearly defines tiny houses, and how they can be used in our community. It is possible for a tiny house to be lived in, at the very least as a secondary dwelling, and for longer than 12 months,  in my LGA.

Y / N. 

(If YES - you are considered tiny house friendly - thank you)

Q: If a Tiny House is to be lived in permanently, we require applications identical to building a large house, including the minimum size requirements, large application fees and surveys and consultants, site preparations that are irrelevant to tiny houses on wheels, and they do need to be privately certified, although we are aware this is particularly difficult as this process is not set up for building built off-site and UNDER 40Sqm.  The natHERs software actually makes it a complete impossibility - not because Tiny houses are not energy efficient, but because the software never considered anything under 50sqm. 

OR - an application for a temporary, moveable dwelling - which actually relates more to a Granny Flat building or a Modular building - not a tiny house - making it very frustrating for the thousands of people that want tiny houses, and are trying to get further information from the council to comply with rules that are not relevant to what they know to be a tiny house.

We understand that a Tiny House simply can not adhere to ALL that is in the NCC, yet we, as a council,  simply advise people that call us to go down that rabbit hole as best practice ?....

Y / N

Q: We view tiny homes as caravans, and are happy for them to be lived in for 30 days, because we think it is reasonable that people will buy 100K+ tiny homes for just 30 days relief (because they can’t afford anything else), and feel it is likely they could save for a mega mansion within 30 days and can then ‘move on’? 

Furthermore, the unused tiny house can sit unused and empty for the other 335 days of the year, because empty houses in a housing crisis makes sense?

Y/N

Q: We view tiny houses as something people will buy and choose to live in short term whilst their huge house is being built, therefore we allow a permit for a tiny house, providing a DA for said massive house is in place - AND the house in question is applied for and built within a year, (even though some councils take longer than 9 months to process the DA and there are limited builders available, and they can’t build the house in the timeframe either). 

It has not occurred to us that many people would like to live in a small space with all their needs met, and not have a mortgage they can not afford. 

Or live in a tiny houses for several years while they save as much money as they can - avoiding the rental market, to actually buid an aforementioned, huge house?

Y/N

Q: We love tiny houses, but the current state legislation doesn’t allow us to approve them - even though State Premieres are categorically stating that they are keen on new housing solutions, including tiny houses, but they actually have no power over the individual councils and pass the buck to council.  In other words, State say it is Council ; and Council say it is State. 

And yet Esperance, Mount Alexander, Capel, Boddington, Surf Coast Shire, Shell Harbour, Port Stephens, Byron Bay, Sunshine Coast, and Ravensthorpe, have all 'somehow' managed to implement a tiny house policy by calling them "Caravans" - accepting that they are Permanent living solutions, Temporarily fixed to the land.  (and not always is it the case that the house is owned by the land owner)

Y/N

Q: We, as a council, have visited the ATHA website ( and viewed template legislation, or have asked for a consultation to better understand tiny houses and policies that would be best for our LGA. )

We are also aware of councils such as

• Esperance WA, 
• Mount Alexander Shire Vic, 
• Shell Harbour NSW, (draft) 
• Surf Coast Vic, 
• and Ravensthorpe Wa (draft)
•  

- and we have attended the meetings with the above councils who have stated that the 

new policy HAS NOT

• encumbered their communities, 
• or impacted council services, 
• or infuriated their constituents in any way?

Y/N

Q: We are one of the councils that feel: 

“Tiny houses are a NEW thing and we do not know enough about them” (they have been around and advocates have been begging you to take notice for over 10 years) 

- Or - 

“Tiny houses are the bane of the planning departments life” (as one SA councillor so plainly put it) - - Or - 

We just don’t want them in our LGA, 

BUT -  are unable to place a black and white "NO Tiny Houses"  policy on our website, so people can avoid our LGA altogether. 

We prefer people desperately trying to decipher non-existent rules and regulations.

Y/N

Q: We have been under the understanding that Tiny houses are connected to homelessness and social housing, which is the state governments department. 

It has not occurred to us that many people are capable of funding their own tiny house without requiring tax payer money, and this could alleviate current housing issues of many kinds, before they get so dire that government assistance is needed.

Y/N

Q: We are not sure what a tiny house is. One of those cute things on Wheels? A Shipping container? A Chinese foldout import? A modular? 

We are concerned about safe buildings and not sure if these buildings are safe as they do not comply with the entirety of the Building Code. 

We were not aware that our department could: 

• Call the ATHA and find out more, including a standard building code for tiny houses.  
• We could physically visit a tiny home expo and inspect houses and speak to builders directly.  
• We could call advocates for the builders, such as the expo, and arrange a candid tiny house factory visit in my area, any week of the year.  (We have factory tours lined up especially for you in all states)

We were also unaware that the NSW builders were all audited by the Builders Commission who were impressed with the quality and made some simple recommendations regarding their compliance such as slightly wider plumbing pipes, and a couple of changes in the ventilation systems - but none deemed them unsafe to live in, even though they were (obviously) unable to meet some NCC requirements (ie: stair steepness, roofing eaves, wide hallways and 1.2m+ space from toilet etc)

And that the NCC board visited an expo in October 2024 for a private viewing of houses, inspecting them all.  As a result, Tiny House workshops were initiated and data collected on points within the code that tiny houses (mainly under 40sqm) cannot meet.  A call to the EPW offices would be very enlightening.

Y/N

Q: We are happier to let people take the risk of flying under the radar, and are aware that there are possibly thousands of people living in unknown areas, in bush fire risk areas, and where emergency services do not know they are there. 

What’s more, they are living in fear of their neighbours making a complaint, at which stage we will bounce into action and deliver for our ratepayers - nonetheless of the stress people are under when there is absolutely nowhere else to go.

Y/N

 Q: We have mistakenly believed that people that want to live in tiny houses are trying to set up villages/co-housing communities (yes, some people would like this - but you do not need to have villages of tiny houses in order to be a tiny friendly council).  Majority of tiny house owners live in just ONE house, as a secondary dwelling, on a large block.

Multiple tiny houses on one block would require your town planning department and many other departments to scrutinise an application (rightly so). 

Meanwhile, you can implement a One House only, on properties with a minimum land size (usually 601 or 801 sqm - but you can choose any size you like), and a certain number of metres from neighbours etc. Maybe just as a secondary dwelling. Have you considered this?

Y/N

Q: We have concerns about

• Increased Traffic on quiet roads, (there are 14 MILLION spare rooms, unused, in Australia every night. Would you be worried if people let their friends/family live in those rooms, bringing with them 1-2 additional vehicles?
• Aesthetics - clearly you have not visited a Tiny Home showroom, or seen the creations that are available. Almost all tiny houses are quite beautiful - especially if you define them properly and exclude ugly, imported junk boxes that some profiteers are calling tiny homes for marketing purposes. (Expandable imports are not seen as Tiny Houses by the industry - FYI they are put together on site and SHOULD need QBCC insurance)
• Water - tiny houses can be connected by hose, or have a water tank for water IN
• Sewerage - if not connected to a main sewer, there are composting toilets that comply with national environmental requirements.
• Grey Water - did you know that the ATHA has an Environmental Engineer that can help with a standardised policy for toilets and grey water that is compliant?
• Flood/Fire - can you insist the tiny house is placed within the boundary of the current property’s zone if a secondary dwelling, and as a primary dwelling a Flood/Fire report for safety
• Increased demand on community services - again, there are 14 MILLION spare rooms unused, that could, at any time, increase demand if they were put to use. Are your housing policies made with the notion that people buy houses with many bedrooms, and do not use them?
• Valuations of neighbouring properties - a good tiny house policy will do little to effect land values. (Reiterating here that tiny houses are NOT related to homeless people or people with anti-social behaviours) and are not set up as caravan parks.

Lastly: With all the above in mind, and understanding the housing crisis needs to be met with new, innovative, ‘gentle density’ housing -  that is affordable ...

- And we do understand that a tiny house in the back yard of 300m plot; or a self-made shack placed in a heritage protected area; or 10 houses plonked in a rural field,  is not acceptable

Can you still not see how a Tiny House Policy implemented for your LGA is absolutely feasible, and doable in a short period of time, creating instant housing relief for those that choose to live this lifestyle?

Some numbers: Are you are aware that there are over 300 professional tiny house builders (not importers - but builders), in this country, capable of implementing 800+ houses Per Month towards helping housing needs.

And  that 80% of their enquiry falls to the wayside because people contact council and find it too confusing, too hard, and conflicting information is given.

That is over 600 people per month trying to house themselves - being told NO - because their council is not Tiny Friendly.  

Help people to help themselves

The Tiny Home expo organisers INVITE Councillors, Town planning departments, Mayors, and government officials to attend an expo as our VIP guest, to learn more....

- view the houses people want to live in,  and talk to builders of tiny houses.

- listen to people trying to understand WHY councils are not opening their arms to tiny houses, 

and the pure frustration people are experiencing trying to get answers from council.

- Chat with advocates and industry leaders on potential policies and the future of tiny houses.

SEE SPEAKER SCHEDULE HERE

GET YOUR VIP TICKETS to ANY EXPO: 

List of Venues and Dates: HERE: 

Request your free tickets:  Email: Phae@tinyhomesexpo.com.au